Thursday
Greg- Duke
Bryce- SDSU
Trey-UConn
Katie- SDSU
Friday
Greg- UNC
Trey- UNC
Bryce- Kansas (they aren’t winning it all, so I’m picking them here)
Katie- Kansas
Sweet Sixteen Selections
Saturday Picks
Katie- UConn
Trey- Florida
Goose- SDSU
Greg H- Pitt
Greg Stuck- SDSU
Scott Stuck- Ky, richmond, sdsu, gonzaga, wiconsin.
Bryce- BYU
Friday Picks
After yesterday’s exciting round 1, Sabrina, Nick Chaney, Scott Stuck, Kyle, Stacy, and Poppa Mike missed at least one of their picks. They need to pick FOUR winners today to “buy back in.” Below are everyone’s picks for today.
Bryce- Purdue and Syracuse
Trey- Arizona and Syracuse
Greg H- UNC and ND
Sabrina- Xavier, Texas, Arizona, and Syracuse
Chaney- Texas, G’Town, Washington, Purdue.
Goose- UNC and Texas
Andy- Washington and Arizona
Greg Stuck- Texas and Purdue
Scott- Arizona, Texas A&M, Washington and George Mason
Kyle- Arizona, Illinois, Washington, and Georgetown
Jill- Ohio state
(not paying per NCAA rules, just for fun)
Stacy- Villanova, Georgetown, Texas, and Tennessee
Katie- Notre Dame and Texas
Poppa Mike- Purdue. Georgetown. Washington. Syracuse
Thursday Picks
Today’s picks (whoever submitted before the first game was entered, sorry I came up with this idea so last minute)
Bryce- Kentucky and UConn
Trey- Richmond and BYU
Greg H- Kentucky and Florida
Sabrina- Louisville and Vanderbilt
Chaney- Cincinnati and Utah State
Goose- Vanderbilt and BYU
Andy- Wisconsin and BYU
Greg Stuck- West Virginia and Wisconsin
Scott- West Virginia and Michigan St.
Kyle- Wisconsin and Louisville
Jill- Ohio state and UConn (not
paying per NCAA rules, just for fun)
Stacy- Penn St and Michigan St.
Katie- BYU and K-State
Poppa Mike- Michigan St. and K-State
March Madness Last Minute Tourney Pickem Contest
I’m trying to put together a last minute side wager for the NCAA tournament. This is completely optional but might be fun to try. Here’s how it works. Each round, you have to pick a certain number of winners. You can only pick each team one time, so choose wisely. You have to win ALL your games that you’ve picked to advance.
Today- I pick Kentucky and UConn
If they both win, I’m still in. If they both lose, I’m out… BUT I can “buy back in” for 4 teams tomorrow (this is the only time you can buy back in).
Tomorrow- I pick Purdue and Notre Dame
If they both win, I keep going. If either one loses, I’m out for good. If won wins and one loses, I’m still out. But the kicker is, for the rest of the tournament, I cannot pick Kentucky, UConn, Purdue, or Notre Dame. So the strategy would be to pick teams early who you think will win, but not win it all. You could theoretically make it to the national championship game but not have any team to bet on…
Below is the break out of how many teams each round you have to pick.
First Round
Thursday 2 Teams
Friday 2 Teams
Second Round
Saturday 1 Team
Sunday 1 Team
Third Round (Sweet Sixteen)
Thursday 1 Team
Friday 1 Team
Fourth Round (Elite Eight)
Saturday 1 Team
Sunday 1 Team
Fifth Round (Final Four)
Friday 1 Team
National Championship
Sunday 1 Team
If you would like to be entered for consideration, please email me saying “I’d like to be in this crazy pool you just heard about the morning March Madness started” with your picks for TODAY AND TOMORROW. Please have them emailed in before the first game today. Because wagers make things more fun, let’s say the entry fee is $1.
Pancake Inspiration
Last week I was eating breakfast with some friends on Friday morning. We were talking about what we’re learning and what’s challenging us in our daily lives. We had just finished pancakes and bacon. As the others were sharing, I looked over the table and saw 6 plates, 12 pieces of silverware, some glasses, and other assorted things. When asked to share, I said “my life is a lot like this table. There are so many things in front of me. But if I’m supposed to pick up a couple things and run hard, I can only do that with a few things. If I pick up more than I can handle, I’ll trip, drop them, or not run as hard as I could with a reasonable load.”
I feel like there are so many things competing for my attention. My heart tells me to pour into my marriage, the world tells me to pour into my career, the little boy inside me wants to go explore, and my soul tells me it needs Jesus. Toss on a non-profit, volunteering at a high school, keeping up with my busy family… it’s overwhelming sometimes. But I think the thing I’m learning is that I cannot and should not try and do everything. I’m learning to say no. I’m learning to be ok with “missing out” on silly little things.
Katie and I celebrated our six month anniversary yesterday. Our celebration took place at Kroger… I was talking to my brother Andy, jokingly saying “Katie and I have pretty much overcome every obstacle life can throw at us.” Of course I was being sarcastic, but it made me think that I am so new to all this. We’ve barely left the starting blocks of the marathon that is our marriage. I don’t even think we’ve hit a serious obstacle yet. We’re blessed to love each other and love being married. We’re trying to figure out how to serve together, live together, and love each other more than the day before. I’d say it’s going well so far.
Below is a funny picture of my friend Aaron. He was goofing off after campaigners with this sign in the Arby’s parking lot.
A Brief History of the Choctaw Challenge
My good buddy Jonathan has a lake house in beautiful London, Ohio. The house sits on Lake Choctaw, which is about 1/4 mile across. I don’t know whose idea it was, but one time a race was proposed. Swim across the lake and back. Since then, we’ve added another element- push ups. Now most of us were never competitive swimmers and the idea of swimming 100 meters seems daunting. But in this 800 meter race, we have to climb out of the water onto a nearby dock, complete ten pushups (when your arms already feel like jelly), and hop back in the water to finish the race. I’m lucky to survive this race every year. I usually finish middle of the pack. Last year’s defending champion (Sean Wade) is returning to defend his crown and his 30 pounds lighter than last year. I don’t know if that makes a difference, but we’re all in big trouble anyway.
Luckily my little brother Trey will be in town this year for the Choctaw Challenge. If he’s lucky, he may even get his own “Choctaw Challenge” t-shirt- Jonathan is really into graphic design. Trey’s always been quick and in good shape, but never called himself a swimmer. If it was a foot race, I’d put my money on him, but in this case, I might have to swim behind him just to make sure he survives. Should be a great weekend, check back in a couple weeks and I’ll post the results (we’re going to Lake Choctaw in two weeks).
Trey and I the year the Cardinals won the World Series
Hopefully I’ll do better at this blogging thing, just been super busy at work. We’ll see!
Europe
Excited for my brother Trey and my buddy John to be in Italy this summer. Brings me back to some seriously awesome memories. Posting a few pictures for nostalgia’s sake below. Feel free to check them out yourself. Trey tweets his adventures and pictures on twitter (@treystuck) and John keeps a blog like I did. I hope they both take risks and soak it all in. Miss ‘em both already.
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Back to the Blog, repping a new cause
Back to the blog world after over a month break. Loving the married life. More on that later. Only have a few minutes today but wanted to share some cool stuff my older and wiser brother Andy has been doing. He’s taking a new cause to heart, children with Muscular Dystrophy. Andy told me about his goal a week ago: “When I was a kid watching Jerry’s Kid’s telethons and stuff, I always wanted to call and give one big $1000 check. Now that I’m in the real world, I still can’t quite do that. But I can try and motivate some people my age to do something special.” So instead of asking older folks (who get asked for their money all the time), Andy started the campaign “if you’re in your 20′s, you can give $20.” So Andy is trying to identify 50 people in their 20′s to give 20 bucks. Pretty simple, right?
Give to the cause here
So I’m asking my friends and blog readers (if anyone is still with me after a month break) to pony up a little dough for a good cause. Andy told me the money goes towards these kids’ camp trips. Pretty neat deal for a kid who spends 51 weeks a year either outcasted, in pain, or both. I’m on board, already donated some. I challenge you to.
Much love, good to be back
-Bryce
